"The last thing we want is another dead body. Our drivers worry they may run somebody over on the track. And workers don't want to touch the cremated bodies because it's a health hazard."

He said the picturesque line, which carries hundreds of people a day the 20 miles from Minehead to Bishop's Lydeard, is happy for rail buffs' ashes to be put in a steam engine's firebox and puffed out of the funnel.

He said: "We receive many requests. We are happy to oblige as long as it is organised and done with reverence, not just dumped over the tracks."

But rail fan Chris Richardson, 63, said: "Trainspotting is not just a hobby - for some people it is their life and death. You can't blame them for wanting their ashes scattered on the tracks."